Where's the love for The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2)? [Archive]

syd

10-04-2005, 12:04 PM

Alright I've been wondering about this for a while now. It seems like everytime someone discusses bad sequels or just the Zelda series in general, people always start bashing Zelda 2 as a bad follow-up to the original Zelda. To tell you the truth, I like the second Zelda way more than the first one. I even go back and beat it every now and then. I've played through the first Zelda a bit, but I haven't ever completed it because I just lose interest in it.

It's not like the second Zelda was exactly the same as the first one, but it was however a very solid game IMO. So of course my question is, why do people consider Zelda 2 to be a bad sequel? :/

MegaDrive20XX

10-04-2005, 12:06 PM

I don't, it was just a trend in 1988 to make sequels of games different then the original.

Super Mario 2 is another example of this

Zelda 2, was the first Zelda game i ever played, so it holds a special place in my memories always.

Truffle

10-04-2005, 12:16 PM

Zelda 2 was one of my favorite rpgs of all time up until the battery in my game died. ;)
I really enjoy side scroller RPGs in general.

MarkMan

10-04-2005, 12:31 PM

I really enjoyed Zelda II: The Adventure of Link... it's one of my favorite games from my childhood... and one of my favorites of all time.

Excellent game.

I wouldn't ever call it a bad sequel. I'd call it refreshingly different.

Matt-El

10-04-2005, 01:04 PM

Yeah, I'd definitely say that sequels now need the perspective that was put in place with Zelda II.

One of my faves also.

evil_genius

10-04-2005, 01:16 PM

I think that people don't like because it was so different from the first. Seems like everyone loved the first. Someone else mentioned SMB, SMB2 doesn't get any love either, probably because it was so different too. It seems like people just don't like change in general. IMO, if AoL was just like the first Zelda it would have totally sucked. For the record, those blue knights in AoL suck.

s1lence

10-04-2005, 01:22 PM

Zing

10-04-2005, 01:25 PM

Technically, Super Mario Bros. 2 (US) was not a true sequel since was not designed to be a SMB game. Grab an emulator and find the Japanese Famicom disk game Dream Factory/Doki Doki Panic. SMB2 is basically this game with Mario sprites. That said, SMB2 is still one of my all-time favorite games.

Zelda II is also one of the greats. I don't like it more or less than Legend of Zelda, as they are really two totally different games of equal quality and fun. I have beaten the game at least 10 times and there was a period where I beat it 3 times in a row, using the same savegame. Unfortunately, the game only marks that you have completed the game and doesn't keep track of how many times. ;) I carried the Zelda II manual with me everywhere: to school, restaurants, relatives' houses. I said goodbye to the game last year when I sold off my original NES collection. :(

8bitnes

10-04-2005, 01:30 PM

I think it comes down to which game you played first. If you were first exposed to Zelda 2, then naturally you liked it because it was a solid game and you had no expectations. If you first played Zelda 1, then Zelda 2 wasn't well-received because it was not what you expected regardless of if it is a good game or not. I first played Zelda 3, and liked Zelda 1, but I won't touch Zelda 2.

Crutch

10-04-2005, 01:34 PM

Zelda II is the only Zelda game that I have actually wrapped. It was the one of the frist 3 games I got for christmas when I got my first NES. I have it classic series for the GBA, can't get enough of it. Finish it again atleast once a year.

syd

10-04-2005, 01:36 PM

evil_genius

10-04-2005, 01:39 PM

Another thing I think people don't like about AoL. Is that the game throws you into crappy situations that you really don't want to be in. Which makes the game much more difficult and sometimes aggravating. Like I'm trying to get to the castle on the other side of the map but I get caught up in tons of shit before I can make it there (battles, crossing bridges etc). Plus the game is very challenging, much more challenging than the first. In LoZ, there was no cut scenes for battles you whacked them a few times with you sword and you're on your way. The map was much easier to navigate like this. LoZ was also not nearly as challenging as AoL.

AoL is more aggravating and takes more patience to play and beat. I have been playing AoL for 16 years and still haven't beaten it.

Jagasian

10-04-2005, 01:48 PM

GameSlaveGaz

10-04-2005, 02:11 PM

People don't like Zelda II because it was such a diversion from the original Zelda. People loved the free-roaming element of Zelda, and Zelda II had that in the overworld map, but the dungeons, towns and battles were all side-scrolling, and like many people already said, people don't like change. While I don't hate Zelda II, it's not one of my favorites, but it is still a better Zelda game than Wind Waker or the CD-i games. LOL
The one thing that was really great about Zelda II was the different techniques you could learn, like the down thrust and the up thrust and the different spells. More Zelda games should've done that instead of just the charge-up spin and shooting beams of light from your sword. (although Link does use the up and down thrusts in SSB and Soul Calibur) What was really annoying about Zelda II was having to earn experience points and leveling up. That is why I still haven't beaten it, cuz I'd be spending all this time leveling up, then my NES glitches. But all in all, it's still a Zelda game and it's a great game but with its drawbacks

syd

10-04-2005, 02:14 PM

I am currently playing through Zelda 2 on my toaster NES. I had to replace the battery on the copy that I got off of Ebay, so I replaced the battery with a coin-holder so that future battery replacement is made easier. I just got to a dungeon that you find by dropping down into a grave. I also just learned a new fighting technique that lets you stab downwards. How much of the game do I have left?

By my estimates you're a little more than halfway through the game right now. The last part of the game is by far the hardest and the longest, especially the final palace. I think most people give up when they get to the final palace because it can be insane, so I can't really blame them. Don't give up though, hopefully you're not one of those people. LOL

SoulBlazer

10-04-2005, 02:15 PM

Why can't you enjoy both games? I played Zelda 1 first and still love both games. :)

chrisbid

10-04-2005, 02:38 PM

mark me as a fan of zelda II. i remember how much the game was delayed, it was included in the nintendo players guide well before it was released.

the game itself it tough, the puzzles arent much of a challenge, but the swordplay is fantastic for its time. zelda 1 on the other hand, is fairly easy action wise, but the crypitc puzzles kept people out of the know from beating the game. ("There are secrets where fairies do not live" has to be one of the worst clues ive ever heard)

sabre2922

10-04-2005, 04:44 PM

I luved Zelda 2 and have very fond memories of it from back when I was a kid and was soo hyped about a new Zelda (the original being my fav game ever) and remember the whole so-called cartridge shortage fiasco damn those were great times to be a gaming geek 8-)

I agree that the Adventure of Link is a faaar better game than Windwaker I just couldnt get into this game and WANTED to like it i really did :( and those god-awful CDi games are better forgotten O_O

Ruudos

10-04-2005, 05:25 PM

I still think that most people do like Zelda 2 and SMB2. These games were still hits, there are all these nitpits that complain about the different gameplay, but I'm pretty sure the majority likes those game quite a lot.

Emuaust

10-04-2005, 05:31 PM

I also believe that the 2nd Zelda game was wasy better then the first, but i did start on the second game first!, if that makes any sence at all!

The games are so different though that im can understand why people like one and not the other, but to me that is what adds so much charm to the series, originality!

Kim Possible

10-06-2005, 12:37 AM

BIG love for Zelda II. Loved the first, loved the sequel. Heck I've loved pretty much all the Zelda games!

Austin

10-06-2005, 05:00 AM

When I was a kid, I loved Zelda 2 much more than the original. (My cousin and I would play through it non-stop.) But going back to the games so many years later, I'm having trouble even getting into it, while I've played through the original a couple times recently.

It makes me wonder what went sour between me and the sequel since I was a child. Maybe I just enjoyed it being more platformy.

EricRyan34

10-06-2005, 08:51 AM

The love for Zelda 2 is right here! Nothing wrong with the title, its a classic! And I LOVE the first one too!

Lady Jaye

10-06-2005, 09:07 AM

You would have asked me that question when I was 13, I would have bashed AoL. Back then, I was among those who hated it. Now, well, I see it with a different perspective... yes, it is different from LoZ. IMO, its biggest problem (typical of most RPGs of the era anyway) is the leveling up part, which was very slow and tedious. Maybe the challenge level, more than anything else, is the reason why we hated it back in the day.

Oh, and as good as the LoZ music is, AoL's soundtrack is even better.

GrandAmChandler

10-06-2005, 09:30 AM

Sorry I have to disagree here.

I can't stand the game. I get pissed off after the 2nd dungeon where you have to make the long journey to get that stupid glove. I understand they wanted to make something different, but it is ridiculous, and when you get caught with a combo hit of projectiles and you can't move it is beyond frustrating. Then there is the levelling up thing. Why Nintendo Why? It was so simple in the first game. Get a Heart Container get a level up, find a sword, get a level up. Then there is the insanity of the last couple dungeons. I just get fed up, and for some reason even though it is the same exact concept, the key / door system is ridiculously frustrating to me as well.

I remember my brother and I rented it as kids, he loved it, I hated it. he bought it. I went back and played Zelda I again.

Nintendo got it right with Zelda III, and the Gameboy Zeldas. Ocarina of Time was also excellent and well worth the wait. Never played Majora's mask , the CD-i games, nor Windwaker so I can not say about those.

But Zelda II ranks last on my list currently on the excellence list of Zelda games. Not the worst game of all time, but my least favorite Zelda.

Lady Jaye

10-06-2005, 09:48 AM

My least favorite Zelda game might surprise many people: it's Link's Awakening. Have it, finished it but meh. Capcom did a much better job with the Oracle games and even with Minish Cap (although Minish Cap was rather short). In fact, the Oracle games are the main reason why I keep my GBA SP (I own a DS, so I now play my GBA games on it).

vintagegamecrazy

10-06-2005, 09:49 AM

I got the game in like 92 by accident when a friend couldn't find his copy of Super off road that I wanted, I ended up paying ten bucks for it, I had no manual and me and my dad had no Idea what we were doing in it but little by little we figured it out and started to love it, my dad ended up finishing it first. I like it more than the original by far, music is amazing especially the ending, and the control was so good for its day no other game with its style had the crisp control that it had or graphics for that fact. The game is tough but not impossible, level up later on at one of the palaces perferably Three Eye Rock and strike the statue and kill the red Iron Knuckle that comes out of it and you will gain levels rather quickly, I love the exploration expecially the trek to the Great Palace. That Palace has the greatest music of the game, and for the record there is a simple path to take to the end of the level too. I have beaten the game numerous times I have even gotten to the Thunderbird with only four hearts and magic jars and I can't finish it though. Great game!

rbudrick

10-06-2005, 02:07 PM

I remember when I got this game in fourth or fifth grade. The day I got it, I went to school and told some friends. One friend said that it took him months to get to the last palace...I said "I bet I can do it by tomorrow!" He didn't believe me, so, of course, I had to. I actually made it to the last palace in only one day, but it took me months to finish that last one! It wasn't until an issue of VG&CE (I think, maybe not) published directions on how to get through that massive beast that I was able to get through it.

-Rob

Kim Possible

10-06-2005, 05:07 PM

I played AoL so many times as a kid, I knew the whole game, every square of the map and every room of every palace. I can now beat it in about 2hrs. If you know how to really work it, you only have to level up at the very end, and only then for a couple of minutes.
Since certain squares activate an action screen, I was obsessed with finding every last one of them, whether it was a heart container, a 500 XP bag, or just a red potion, I tracked every last one of them down.
Wonderful wonderful game.

klausien

10-06-2005, 05:11 PM

I have never judged Zelda II on anything other than its own merit. I'm just not one to judge games based upon their predecessors. Case in point, I've never had a problem with Devil May Cry 2.

As for the game itself, I consider it one of the weaker games in the series. The change in gameplay is not a problem. It is actually quite cool. My issue with the game is the simple fact that Link is very sluggish. It takes a second to get going, and then you slide to a halt when you want to stop. Add unwieldly jumping and unresponsive attack controls to that, and you have something more frustrating than fun. Link controls worse than Simon Belmont.

On the positive side, I think the horizontally-scrolling RPG is a great genre. Games like Ys III, Exile & Popful Mail and even Symphony of the Night, despite their faults, are all great plays. Not to say that Zelda II isn't also important, as none of these games would exist without its pioneering influence, but it just isn't as fun as the other games in the genre.

evildead2099

10-06-2005, 06:35 PM

It seems like everytime someone discusses bad sequels or just the Zelda series in general, people always start bashing Zelda 2 as a bad follow-up to the original Zelda.

Not I. I've always defended Zelda II.

To tell you the truth, I like the second Zelda way more than the first one.

Zelda II is my favourite game in the whole series!

NE146

10-06-2005, 06:43 PM

I was gonna say... if ever a place there were Zelda 2 fans, it's here at the DP boards. I always see people saying they liked it. Hardly anyone says it sucks.

And why not? It's NES Era Miyamoto genius! The music, the gameplay, the design... it's all there brutha.

I've always considered it to be Zelda Gaiden.. or just like a Side Story and it holds up in it's own right.

ubersaurus

10-06-2005, 07:03 PM

I loved Zelda 2. I'll grant it was my first Zelda game...but it was a lot of fun, and the only one in the series that is truly hard.

Cobra Commander

10-06-2005, 09:09 PM

I've been playing some of Zelda II today actually. I just picked up the hammer, and learned the downward thrust. I've been playing this game since the day it came out. It's one of my all time favorites. Unlike Zelda I, I never get bored with it.

It's one of the hardest games that I'm really good at. I've found myself using strategy that I never noticed before. Knowing when to use "shield" at the risk of using your last bit of magic. It's so fun an far more of an adventure than the first game. It has more of a link as far as gameplay to the N64 and Gamecube games than the first and LttP. At least to me.

8bitnes

10-06-2005, 11:29 PM

I'm almost convinced to give it a chance after all the support here. How many hours of gameplay do you expect a fairly good gamer that has never played it would need to take to conquer it?

retroman

10-06-2005, 11:37 PM

i like zelda 2...but its not in the top 3 of my fav. zeldas

Dr. Morbis

10-07-2005, 12:37 AM

And why not? It's NES Era Miyamoto genius! The music, the gameplay, the design... it's all there brutha.
Especially the music, man does it rock. I got this game on Christmas eve 1989 and loved every minute of it (and yes this was after finishing both quests in the first Zelda). When you consider how different Mario 2, Castlevania 2 and Zelda 2 are, I always dreamed of what a Metroid 2 released on NES before 1990 would have turned out like :-P

Kim Possible

10-07-2005, 12:49 AM

I'm almost convinced to give it a chance after all the support here. How many hours of gameplay do you expect a fairly good gamer that has never played it would need to take to conquer it?

unless you really get stuck, I'd say no more than 5 hours.

and yeah, that music is wonderous!

evildead2099

10-07-2005, 08:00 AM

On the subject, I actually liked SMB2 much more than the original. Maybe I just like sequel changes more than the average person, who knows! :D

I carried the Zelda II manual with me everywhere: to school, restaurants, relatives' houses.

Now THAT'S hardcore! :eek 2: I've never heard of anyone doing that before. It's nice to know someone likes this game as much as I do, and in this case much moreso.

I, too, like SMB2 more than the origianal SMB. As a matter of fact, I like SMB2 more than every other ('true') game in the Mario series!

I also took the Zelda II manual with me to school. I kid you not.

evildead2099

10-07-2005, 08:03 AM

NintendoMan

10-07-2005, 10:00 AM

It was change and people don't like change. I didn't like the N64 zelda's because they were so different from the SNES version. I think people just couldn't accept LOZ as a side scroller for the most part.

So you are saying that you can't accept Zelda in 3-D?

I personally love the original Zeldas, but just get astounded when I play the 3-D ones! OOT is probably my favorite game of all time.
I will say that I don't like Zelda 2 as much as the original, but still like it. I am terrible at the game though for some reason?

zerohero

10-07-2005, 10:54 AM

Well I thought it was OK,

One thing I loved about the first one is the adventure aspect to it. You felt like you where in another world on a journey opposed to the 2nd one, it felt like Super Mario with a sword :/

rbudrick

10-07-2005, 12:09 PM

One thing I loved about the first one is the adventure aspect to it. You felt like you where in another world on a journey opposed to the 2nd one, it felt like Super Mario with a sword

My thoughts exactly. The N64 Zeldas while very cool, weren't as big of a change from the previous Zeldas as Super Mario 64 was to Super Mario World, or as Simon's Quest was to Castlevania, as mentioned above. It just wasn't a huge surprise to see Zelda in 3d....it had to happen eventually.

The balls that some NES game designers had to make their sequels radically different is very cool. You don't see a whole lot of that nowadays. There's few surprises like this now...the last one I can think of is Metal Gear Solid 2.

Zelda II was an awesome game. If you never saw Zelda one, you wouldnt be comparing. It stands as an incredibly well done game for it's time on it's own. Comparisons are null and void, considering how radically different this title was to its predecessor. It really is apples to oranges...they're both fruit, but there's really no comparison beyond that.

-Rob